


I can't make it go away by making you a villain

by fazcinatingreads



Category: Cricket RPF
Genre: Gen, T20 - Freeform, hobart hurricanes, ok tim's not really in it but he's mentioned, so that's fine.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:21:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28892034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fazcinatingreads/pseuds/fazcinatingreads
Summary: Matthew Wade returns from the Test team to find out that his domestic T20 team has been taken from him and so he turns to one place where he knows he's always welcome even if it means mending a bridge with the captain.
Kudos: 1





	I can't make it go away by making you a villain

The sun was blistering on Matthew Wade's neck as he sat on the pier, one hand on his fishing rod. The line had been dangling in the water for the past few hours, while Matthew reminisced the Test series and what had gone so badly wrong.

It started off so well, Matthew thought, grimacing. It was a "new position, new Wadey" start to the tournament and boy, did he hit the ground running. He thought about him and Joe Burns chasing down the total that India set for them in the first Test. That was a blast! He had had several thoughts during that innings about EASY it was opening the batting. Sure, David Warner had always made it look easy, but he'd never known how true that was.

Matthew thought about how they'd just shafted him back to the middle order where he'd had to find his feet again. Sitting on the pier, bare feet dangling in the ocean, with the Cascade brewery visible in the distance, he shook his head at his horrid display with the bat in those last few Tests. That duck. He shuddered at the thought. Now he had as many Test ducks as Bradman.

After another hour of nothing, not a single bite, Matthew reeled it in and decided it was time to face reality. Back to the grind. To his T20 team in the Big Bash League. At least he could pick up some Tassal salmon at the supermarket on the way home.

He hadn't really kept up with the big bash during his time in the Test hub - too busy shadow batting with the other boys in the hotel hallways - but he knew they must miss him. Who was captaining in his absence? He hoped his best mate D'Arcy Short had put his hand up to be skipper, he was a good kid. Matthew tried to think of the names of any other players and couldn't. 

Walking into Blundstone Arena, it was deserted and empty. There were tumbleweeds floating through the nets and the arena was all overgrown with weeds. There were KFC cutouts in the stands that were bent over in exhaustion of having sat there so long.

Matthew shook his head at the sight. What had happened when he wasn't there to look after everything? Where was everyone? Had the whole club folded without him? He'd always known how indispensable he was, but this much? 

He decided to ring his mate D'Arcy Short for some answers.

"Hi Matt!" D'Arcy said, excitedly, when he answered the phone. "Are you joining us soon? We miss you!"

Matthew couldn't help but smile. "Hi D'Arcy," he replied, "Yeah I'm at Blundstone now, where is everyone? Are you playing interstate? I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Yeah, we're in Melbourne," D'Arcy said, in an excited rush of words, "Pete took us to his place in Kinglake where he's got this mad cool cricket stadium and it's so huge and we're going to play all our home games here for the foreseeable future and it's SO COOL. With Pete, we get to do whatever we want, and Sandeep entertains us with his guitar around the campfire every night and it's so amazing."

Matthew blinked, trying to take in everything. "You're kidding."

"It's true!" D'Arcy exclaimed, "Pete's amazing, you'll love him, he's got horses on his property and he let me ride one!"

"Far out," Matthew muttered quietly. Then he said louder, "Is Tim there? What's he saying about this?"

"Painey's just arrived and he's making us all margharitas," D'Arcy said. "Painey coined the phrase Handscomb Hurricanes and now it's stuck."

"Okay, great," Matthew said, but things were far from great. His big bash team, one of his main reasons for existence, was doing fine without him. 

Sadly, Matthew hung up the phone and slumped down in the long grass growing on Blundstone Arena. The only thing he loved, besides Julia and the kids, was the Hobart Hurricanes. And now it had been taken from him. By a guy named Pete.

...

After a few hours of sulking among the weeds, on the ground that had once been so pristine, Matthew stood up. Shook the dirt and muck from his clothes and decided it was time for action. 

He had to get back to a big bash team, had to get back to his devastating form with the bat. He glanced at his phone contacts and called up the one place that had made him feel loved. The cricket family that would always welcome him, no matter how entrenched he'd gotten in Hobart.

"Hello?" Glenn Maxwell answered the phone. "Melbourne Stars captain speaking."

"Glenn?" Matthew sputtered in disbelief. "Mate, you're the captain now?" 

"Yeah," Glenn said proudly. "Is this Matthew Wade?"

"You don't have my number saved in your phone?" Matthew asked, incredulously.

"Why would I?" Glenn said, not expecting an answer. "What can I do for you, Matt?"

"I'd like to come back to the Stars," Matthew said, "Do you have any place for a sad little keeper batsman who can demolish bowlers in the power play?"

"As a matter of fact," Glenn said, and paused for dramatic effect. "We do."

"Great!" Matthew said, hope lifting in his chest and a weight falling from his shoulders. "Does Luke Wright still play?"

"No, you'll be opening with the Hulk," Glenn said, amused.

Matthew accepted the position, hung up, and grinned widely for a long time. He'd always dreamed of opening the batting with a green muscly 244 centimetre tall superhero.


End file.
